A 19th century Tibetan tangka or religious painting depicting Nyenchen Tanglha, an important Tibetan territorial protector deity associated with the sacred mountain range of the same name

A quick note to say I have a new interview up on the Guru Viking Podcast, hosted by Steve James. This one is supposed to be the first of three chats focusing on human-spirit interactions and relationships in different esoteric or magical traditions. Here’s some links, and a list of topics we touched on, as prepared by Steve for the time stamps. Let me know what you think!

00:00 – Intro

01:06 – 3 part demonology

03:31 – Interaction with imported Indian cosmology

04:32 – A scholarly caveat

05:47 – Pre-Buddhist Tibetan entity and spirit frameworks

10:16 – Land spirits

12:23 – Drawbacks of secularisation and psychologising of Buddhism

14:34 – Right relationship with entities

18:16 – Origins of dedicating the merit

18:16 – The arrival of tantra in Tibet and Padmasambhava’s spirit domination

22:30 – The essence of Buddhism

24:12 – Did Buddhism weaken Tibet?

26:11 – Tantric missionary technology of spirit domination

32:32 – Degrees of Buddhist integration with Tibetan practices and rituals

40:00 – Dr Robert Mayer’s work to reevaluate the terma tradition

43:30 – Beyul and opening sacred sites

47:10 – Offering practices and Chod

50:47 – Spirit mediumship and offending spirits

54:13 – Geomancy

56:41 – Staking the demoness of the land

01:01:03 – Dark tantra and the ethics of subjugation

01:05:59 – What is a demon?

01:06:57 – Facist tantra and Western occultists

01:09:12 – The role of compassion

01:10:07 – Tantra as institutional shamanism?

01:13:11 – Interviewing protector deities

01:15:15 – Perceiving spirits

01:18:07 – Misunderstandings of Western Buddhist converts

0:24:54 – Buddhism and the cultural substrate

01:25:47 – IFS and shamanism

01:27:55 – Completion stage practice and the logic of yoga

01:30:49 – Are spirits just your own mind?

01:35:09 – Dudjom Lingpa’s demon encounter in a dream

01:39:09 – Brahma, Buddha, and various levels of beings

01:40:44 – Are yidams just archetypes?

01:42:19 – Paradoxes of protection from spirits

01:45:35 – Predatory demons

01:48:29 – Many faces of Buddhism

01:50:05 – Outer, inner, secret

01:52:08 – Dream yoga and visionary sex

01:57:35 – Inevitability of spirit contact

01:58:09 – Ben’s stressful experiences with the spirit world

02:06:10 – Alien abduction experiences

02:11:42 – Night terrors

02:13:30 – Cognitive dissonance of tantric practitioners

02:15:30 – Priestly class mindset

02:18:09 – Real tantric training

02:22:05 – Logistical challenges of creating tantric adepts

02:23:57 – Ben’s magickal training

https://www.guruviking.com/podcast/ep258-demonology-of-tibet-dr-ben-joffe